Lock washer



Oct. 30, 195] AF 2,573,226

LOCK WASHER Filed Oct. 11, 1946 I Inventor Knneih l ihaf E'f Attorney? Patented Oct. 30, 1951 UNITED STATES OFFICE 2,573,226 2 1100K wAsiiiin;

Kenneth L"; Shafer," Buffalo, N. Application October 11, 1946, Serial No; 702,811

1 a v. This invention relates -;to 1av novel construction of lock washer for-use in preventingdisengagement of two threade'dlyconnectedelements orof two elements which are connected together by threadedmeans. l a t V More particularly, it isan .object I of ithe inventio"n' toprovidea novelzconstruction of lock washer having shoulders on opposite faces thereof which are constructed :and arranged to bite into-the *connected elements'when' said elements are turned .in a direction for disengagement thereof for preventing rotation of the :elementsrelatively to:one :another and to-the-lock washer -in a zdisengaging direction. t

further particularobject of the invention is" to provide R a lock washer' wherein the shoulders or cutting edges are disposediat substantial angles to radii ofthe washerrfor executing .a shearing out into the-adjacent faces of the "elements retained thereby to better enable the lock washer tobecome's'ecured tt) 'ea'ch-i'of said elements'land to form an linterlocking connection therebetween.

Still a f-urther objector 1 the invention is'sto pro- "vide "a lek wash'er o'f substanti'ally :uniform thickness-throughoutof undulating shape on each side --thereofand-wherein the ridges of the undulations are angularly disposedrelatively to radii of the washer body and the lockin shoulders or edges, on both sides of the washer body are disposed along-the ridges 'or'high points of said undulations for not only executing a shear-like penetration of the adjacent surfacespfitl'ieinterlocked members but whereby, when said interlocked thereof, as "will hereinafter becdiiie'apparem; The

membersare broug-ht into-close proximity, the

washer body will be flattened and compressed therebetween and retained under stress so that :any tendency of theinterlockedelementstomove away from one another wi-ll cause the locker washerto resume its undulating-shape to thereby move the shoulders or edges thereof toward the adjacent faces of-said interlocked members.

Still a further object of the invention is to aprovidera lock washer of-thehaforedescribed con- .struction and shape which isrno'n-circularin its "thereof;

Figure 4"isa"secti6nal"view take'nsubstanuau along a plane as indicatedlby the linegta, "4' of Figure rand r-Figures Visa sect" rial viewtaken substantially along a :piaae as 'ifidi'c'atedby" the 1' line s s.- of

Figure -1.

Rererrmg'more specifically to the qorawmg'; the imarcvea'lock' washer ants? efitirety isdesignatd generall isandmayberormed'or re's'ilintme'tal' which'isfsufiicientlyihard 'pred to-imaifitai'n tli'eslio'ulders o'ficu'tt'ing e ges washer 6 .is provided with a central o emagfl which may beldf any suitable diameter. debfiding upon .the .diairietei' a or the belt or threaded shank, not; showng'itliat' it is" adapted to engage. The" body portion: 8 6f 'the lo'ckiwas'hei '6 relatively wide and of substantially uniform thicknessandisof undulating shap'eiin substantially 7 a ci rcuniferential direction, I as .clearlyiillu'str'ated Figure; iTher-idgesiafidvallys'on each Side orface of -the'lock washerbody 8. are disposed at substantial angles to radii er the washer-E 6.

- The two sides-of the' body '8 are provided with shoulders-9 and I0 which-extend alongthe-high pointsof said ridgeslandf-parallelthereto. One

- side of the washer body 8 "is lprovided wi-th three substantially correspondin ly Spacedshoulders;v 9 each oflwhich faces-in thesama direction-and vthe opposite side-- of the @body portion-871s likewise provided withthree correspondingly spacedgorresponding-shoulders I lleachof lwhich face. in the oppositedirection tothe three;shouldersw:9.

indicated in :full anddotted lineswin Figures 1 and 2, thez'shoulders lliand lfl are circumferentially spaced-relatively torone -anothern From-the foregoing it wi-ll i be irea'dilyapparent that-when the washer trisfinterposed betweent two elements i t'o'zbe" connectedrbyta-zthreaded connec- :tion; as..='for-":exampleitwo bars itolbe conneotedaby a x nutteand vbolt ifastening, 1 inotiishown,:rasathe threaded fastening is tightened the tendency of rotation of the elements to be connected, by the tightening operation, will be in a direction so that the adjacent faces of the elements which bear on the opposite sides of the Washer 6 will tend to turn in a direction to ride over the outer or rounded sides of the shoulders 9 and 10. As the elements to be connected are drawn together by the screw fastening, the washer 6 will be compressed between .the adjacent faces of said elemembers tend to move away from one another I the lock washer 6, which has been held under compression and stress therebetween, will tend to resume its normal, undulating shape as seen in Figure 3, so that the shoulders or edges 9 and Ill will be projected toward said adjacent faces for more effectively penetrating the surfaces thereof to lock the members against turning movement in a disengaging direction. It will thus be readily apparent that the lock washer 6 will function in two unique ways for insuring penetration of the outer edges of its shoulders with the surfaces of the adjacent faces of the elements, between which it is disposed.

It will be noted that when the washer is fiattened between two elements the shoulders 9 and III will be caused to turn outwardly away from the faces or sides of the washer body so that said shoulders will then be disposed at obtuse angles to the plane of the flattened washer.

' Consequently, should the connected elements tend to turn in directions for loosening the screw fastening and for permitting said elements to be displaced away from one another so that the washer could return to or toward its normal undulating shape of Figure 3, the shoulders 9 and ill will swing back toward their positions of Figure 3, perpendicular to the plane of the washer and as this occurs and in so moving will tend to execute shearing cuts into the adjacent faces of the elements between which the Washer is disposed. In addition to the outer edges of the shoulders cutting at angles to radii of the washer into ad- J'acent faces of elements between which the washer is disposed as said elements tend to work loose, the resiliency of the washer body will cause the peripheral portion ofthe washer to spring outwardly with greater force and to a greater extend away from the plane of the flattened washer than the inner portion of said washer, and consequently the outer end of the cutting or shearing edges of the shoulders will cut with a greater force and to a greater depth thus accomplishing a shearing out since the depth of the cut will diminish as to each shoulder from the periphery of the washer toward the opening I.

It will likewise be readily apparent that the washer 6 could be interposed between a single member and a nut and bolt fastening so that one side thereof would bear against a sid'e of said member and the opposite side of the washer would bear against the inner face of the nut of the fastening, to function in the same manner in connection therewith, as previously described.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may obviously be resorted to, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a lock washer, an uninterrupted washer body formed of relatively resilient metal provided with a central opening and of substantially uniform thickness throughout, saidwasher body being of undulating configuration in a direction substantially circumferentially thereof, the ridges,

formed by the undulating surfaces of each side of the Washer body, being disposed at substantial angles to radii of the washer, said sides of the washer body being provided with shoulders extending longitudinally along the high points of said ridges, the shoulders on one side of the washer body being all disposed to face in the same direction and in the opposite direction to the shoulders on the other side of said body, and the shoulders on each side of the body being correspondingly spaced and being staggered with respect to the shoulders on the opposite side of the body.

2. A lock washer comprising an uninterrupted washer body formed of a resilient metal, said washer body having a central opening and being of undulating formation in a direction generally circumferentially thereof to define ridges on each side of the washer body disposed at substantial angles to radii of the washer, said washer body being of substantially uniform thickness and having shoulders on each side thereof, the shoulders extending along the ridges of the sides at substantial angles to radii of the washer, the shoulders on one side all facing in one direction and the shoulders on the opposite side all facing in the opposite direction, each of said shoulders and ridges being inclined from its outer to its inner end.

3. A look washer as in claim 2, said shoulders defining shearing edges each extending from the opening to the periphery of the washer, the inner end of each shearing edge constituting a leading end thereof for execution of a shearing cut due to the angular disposition of its shoulder relatively to a radius of the washer.

KENNETH L. SHAFER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 179,931 Loomis July 18, 1876 1,162,566 Bushyeager Nov. 30, 1915 1,323,188 Himphris Nov. 25, 1919 1,834,247 Lillig Dec. 1, 1931 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 315,639 Great Britain July 18, 1929 721,415 France Dec. 22, 1931 

